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MOVIES / ON DVD / CLOVERFIELD
Cloverfield

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Cloverfield (2008)

77%
43%
72%
N/A
N/A
N/A
77 %
Reviews Counted: 176 Fresh: 135  Rotten:41 Average Rating: 6.8/10
 
Consensus: Economically paced, stylistically clever, and filled with scares. A sort of Blair Witch Project crossed with Godzilla, Cloverfield is economically paced, stylistically clever, and filled with scares. more
 
Rated: 15
Runtime: 85 mins
Theatrical Release: 01-02-2008
Synopsis:
Director Matt Reeves (THE PALLBEARER) and producer J. J. Abrams (LOST, ALIAS) turn a mysterious monster loose in Manhattan in the disaster flick CLOVERFIELD. The movie begins at a party for Rob (Michael Stahl-David), who has accepted a promotion that will send him to Japan. Hud (T. J. Miller)... [More]
Director Matt Reeves (THE PALLBEARER) and producer J. J. Abrams (LOST, ALIAS) turn a mysterious monster loose in Manhattan in the disaster flick CLOVERFIELD. The movie begins at a party for Rob (Michael Stahl-David), who has accepted a promotion that will send him to Japan. Hud (T. J. Miller) is entrusted with the responsibility of videotaping the party--and as the trouble grows, he holds on to the camera, recording everything that happens. In fact, the entire movie is seen through the lens of his camera, reminiscent of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. As terrified people in a post-9/11 New York City take to the streets, Rob decides to head uptown to try to save Beth (Odette Yustman), the woman he loves, though he's afraid to tell her so. Rob is joined by his brother Jason (Mike Vogel), Jason's girlfriend Lily (Jessica Lucas), Lily's friend Marlena (Lizzy Caplan), and Hud, who has a thing for Marlena. Rob is determined not to give up, even after almost being crushed by the Statue of Liberty's head and as the military shows up to force evacuation of the city. Reeves and first-time screenwriter Drew Goddard, who previously has written television episodes of such series as BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL, ALIAS, and LOST, focus in on the central aspect of the story: people trying to survive the monster attack. Very little else is explained, since the story is told completely through the video camera. And there is no additional score to heighten the drama; the only music is that which is picked up by Hud and the camera's microphone, including snippets of songs by Kings of Leon, Parliament Funkadelic, Of Montreal, and others. The anticipation of CLOVERFIELD's release was enhanced by a viral marketing campaign that included Web sites built around the main characters and even the fictional drink Slusho. [Less]

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Starring: Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Odette Yustman, Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas

Director: Matt Reeves
Screenwriter: Drew Goddard
Producer: J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk

DVD Info

Release:

Oct 4, 2009

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Anamorphic Widescreen

Audio:

  • 5.1 Surround Dolby Digital - English, French, Spanish
  • Subtitled - English, French, Spanish

Additional Release Material:

  • Audio Commentary - 1. Matt Reeves - Director
  • Additional Scenes - (6)
  • Featurettes - 1. THE MAKING OF CLOVERFIELD
  • 2. CLOVERFIELD VISUAL EFFECTS
  • 3. I SAW IT! ITS ALIVE! IT'S HUGE
  • 4. CLOVER FUN

Interactive Features:

  • Easter Eggs - (11)
  • Interactive Menus
  • Scene Access

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Ratings Image

Feels like one big, masterfully executed experiment in upping the ante in audience manipulation, and it works brilliantly.

Full Review | Comment
02/07/08 07:08 AM
Orlando Parfitt
IGN Movies UK
Ratings Image

Even if there's nothing new going on here, the style and quality of this film injects a terrific sense of terror into the old monster movie formula.

Full Review | Comment
01/28/08 11:48 PM
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
Ratings Image

Jaw dropping stuff but you will have to have a strong stomach to cope with the constantly moving camera.

Full Review | Comment
01/28/08 05:48 AM
Simon Thompson
Heart 106.2
Ratings Image

A dazzling experiment that paid off immensely, this is cinematic pleasure at its purest.

Full Review | Comment
01/22/08 11:22 AM
Olly Richards
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

This film should NEVER leave the theatres.

Full Review | Comment
05/17/08 11:41 AM
Kevin McCarthy
BDK Reviews (CBS Radio)
Ratings Image

The persistently shaky camera sways to and fro so much the upshot is more nauseating than thrilling. Skip the nachos/ hotdog combo and opt for a packet of aspirin instead.

Full Review | Comment
05/13/08 04:18 PM
Chris Laverty
Mansized
Ratings Image

... exciting, terrifying and breathlessly entertaining.

Full Review | Comment
05/01/08 04:10 PM
Alonso Duralde
MSNBC
Ratings Image

I, for one, would be using the F-bomb far more gratuitously if faced with a possible encounter with a creature that could well swallow me whole.

Full Review | Comment
04/25/08 09:05 AM
Rob Humanick
Projection Booth
Ratings Image

A fascinatingly wrought experimental film that holds you in awe at what Reeves and his production crew was able to pull off, inspiring more appreciation than a gut level sense of being there.

Full Review | Comment
04/21/08 04:55 PM
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals
Ratings Image

Mixing the immediacy of documentary observation and the slam-bang pace of the modern disaster epic, Cloverfield is economic and engaging.

Full Review | Comment
04/15/08 06:55 PM
Mike Sage
Peterborough This Week
Ratings Image

'Cloverfield' is a sleek, silly product of green filmmaking: It recycles old ideas and molds them into a lean, briskly paced thriller that owes as much to classic monster movies like 'Godzilla' as gimmick-driven misfires like 'The Blair Witch Project.'

Full Review | Comment
04/09/08 11:41 PM
Rossiter Drake
San Francisco Examiner
Ratings Image

...once past the monster's initial attack on the city, Cloverfield isn't very scary or very suspenseful or even very interesting.

Full Review | Comment
04/08/08 09:47 AM
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com
Ratings Image

Mystery monster really mad at Manhattan on rampage, making the collective audience skin crawl and leaving you with sweaty palms and clenched teeth, no matter what row you're sitting in.

Full Review | Comment
04/07/08 05:30 PM
Prairie Miller
NewsBlaze
Ratings Image

For all its popularity, self-documentation's purpose and meaning remain elusive.

Full Review | Comment
03/21/08 09:15 AM
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters
Ratings Image

For all its newfangled innovations, the movie shares DNA with similarly themed sci-fi yarns from the 1950s.

Full Review | Comment
03/16/08 10:38 AM
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing
Ratings Image

One of the most exciting and frightening sci-fi/horror films of the last decade.

Full Review | Comment
03/13/08 03:36 PM
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Goatdog's Movies
Ratings Image

It's the closest a film has ever gotten to a roller-coaster ride. It will definitely nauseate, it feels claustrophobic, there are sudden scares, and it also peaks too early.

Full Review | Comment
03/04/08 10:22 AM
Jeff Bayer
Daily Herald (IL)
Ratings Image

I've never cheered so hard for the monster to win in my life.

Full Review | Comment
02/28/08 10:51 PM
Diva Velez
MightyGanesha.com
Ratings Image

A monster movie for the YouTube era.

Full Review | Comment
02/25/08 01:27 PM
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)
Ratings Image

Oh-oh. Maybe I've been grousing about 'January junk' a little too long. Because here's 'Cloverfieldk,' it's January, and this movie is by no means junk.

Full Review | Comment
02/24/08 10:53 AM
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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